Celebration of strength, culture highlight Gaylord festival

July 26, 2011

HT - Bill Serveny

GAYLORD — Earlier this month, Swiss culture took hold in Gaylord with the annual Alpenfest. This week, it was Celtic culture, as the second annual Celtic Festival was held across the street from the Otsego County Sportsplex.

The highlight of the festival was the highland games competition, where 13 competitors, donned in wool kilts, took part in a unique array of strength sports, the roots of which date back to ancient Scotland.

“It was as good as we could hope for,” said Dale Gehman, competitor and one of the event’s organizers. “We had people come and go all day and we had a ton of kids enter the kids games.”

For the adults, Gehman, who competes across the country, won the Masters division by winning all eight events — the Braemar Stone, Open Stone, Heavy Weight for Distance, Light Weight for Distance, Heavy Hammer, Caber Toss, Sheaf and Weight for Height.